Since the archery program began at Seymour High School in 2015, at least one team has qualified for the state tournament each year.
The tradition continues this year with the Owls’ Team 1 advancing to the National Archery in the Schools Program event March 13 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis.
Seymour will be one of 84 teams competing that day. There will be elementary, middle and high schools participating.
The Owls’ flight is at 10 a.m., and 20 archers will shoot.
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Head coach Jill Purkhiser said she was excited for Team 1 to qualify but disappointed Team 2 didn’t make it in.
She’s ready to see the archers compete.
"Believe it or not, I am the most nervous person on the whole range," she said. "I know what they are capable of, and I just want to see them do their best. I tell them ‘Let me take your nervous jitters so you can focus.’ Focus is the key for success at any tournament. My goal is to encourage them to do their best. The score will take care of itself."
The Owls qualified for state after shooting 3,267 in their own qualifier Jan. 29 and 30 at the Lloyd E. Scott Gymnasium.
That day, they placed first out of four teams. Scottsburg was second with 3,178, Seymour’s Team 2 placed third with 3,021 and South Ripley was fourth with 2,934. Scottsburg also qualified for state.
At the qualifier, Seymour was led by senior Kielar Greer, whose score of 293 made him the top shooter over the weekend and was seven points off from a perfect score of 300. Classmate Madelynn Burns was next with 277.
Purkhiser said Greer winning the boys division and being the top overall archer was a first for the Seymour archery program. Greer is one of 21 senior archers. Seymour has 40 total archers this season.
Of what she credits to the team getting to state, Purkhiser said "good old-fashioned hard work at practice."
Since the qualifier, she said the Owls have continued to practice at 6 a.m. each Tuesday and Thursday. They had to cancel a tournament appearance due to the weather.
Seymour is especially excited about competing at state because a year ago, the tournament was called off 48 hours before it was set to start. Ultimately, the COVID-19 pandemic put an end to the 2020 season.
This year, the state tournament is going on as planned but with spectators being limited to those in the same household as the archers.
The pandemic, however, played a role in the national tournament being moved to virtual. It originally was set for May 6, 7 and 8 at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, Kentucky.
Purkhiser expects to receive more information on that later this month.
"Any team at an official NASP school can participate, and the scores from all over the country will be tabulated together to create one huge tournament and a world record," she said. "Both of our teams will participate in this tournament."
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Meet the Seymour High School archery team that qualified for state
Hannah Ackeret, Jaden Bevers, Logan Bryant, Madelynn Burns, Hannah Busby, Leigha Butler, Levi Croquart, Johnathan Engleking, Kiersten Engleking, Kielar Greer, Jacob Jones, Evan Kegeris, Seth Lane, Ethan McKinney, Dorismar Ortiz, Charlotte Rust, Pablo Trejo, Kaylee Tudor, McKenzie Wirtz and Eli Wood
Alternates: Rikki Dial, Sierra Fletcher, Megan Kieser and Audrey Redlin
Coaches: Jill Purkhiser, Jonathan Purkhiser, Drew Purkhiser, Shawn Mahoney and Justin Ackeret
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For information about the Indiana National Archery in the Schools Program State Tournament, visit nasptournaments.org/tournamentdetail.aspx?tid=6253&geid=145401.
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